The guts of the matter: UEG's role in European Union health policy developments

young doctors about crucial health policy matters and their impact on society.Ontheotherhand,manyofouryounginternationalcolleagues are on the frontlines of the public health crisis, providing us with comprehensive feedback on the current situation. By working together, through exchanging experiences and highlighting important issues, we aim to have a more significant influence on shaping policy discussions and priorities. Our mission centres around promoting in-clusivity through equality, cooperation, and the sharing of medical knowledge. Another core priority of YTG is safeguarding the welfare and the interests of young medical professionals, as it is pivotal to ensure sustainable healthcare systems. Austerity measures and workforce shortages in an era of medical crisis can lead to over-burdening junior doctors, which can negatively impact their mental health and training outcomes. Therefore, we advocate prioritising both recruitment and retention policies and creating incentives to improve working conditions for young doctors. These incentives should address workload regulation, sustainable working environ-ments, and encouragement of training, research, and professional development. With this in mind, and to foster postgraduate edu-cation and mobility, UEG has introduced clinical and research fellowship opportunities for young GIs across Europe and the Mediterranean area. 9 An ongoing PAG initiative that is particularly spearheaded by young professionals is the support of UEG National Societies in their local advocacy


THE POLITICS OF EU HEALTH POLICY-MAKING
The EU has four core institutions that exercise the most power on EU policy: the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. The 'co-decision' process at the EU level is an interplay between the executive body (the European Commission) and the two legislative bodies (the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers). This process starts with a proposal from the European Commission, which is sent to the Parliament and the Council. If the co-legislators agree on a final version of the text, they can both pass it and it becomes law ( Figure 1). 1 When it comes to health and health care, despite the EU's significant competence in public health, national governments have preferred to retain a primary role in matters concerning health care systems. European health policy, therefore, complements national policies and is based on the close cooperation among the national health care systems in the EU Member States. 2 Contrary to national systems, where the health ministry is typically responsible for most health-related issues, at the EU level, health is taken into account across a wide range of policy areas (e.g., internal market, consumer protection, food and agriculture etc). 1,3 This is well-reflected in the European Commission annual work programmes. Looking at the priorities for 2023, 4 we see that specific health-related issues are part of comprehensive policy packages, such as Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, which tackles the entire disease pathway, EU's Framework for sustainable food systems, which addresses all food-related policies, as well as the common EU data space, which will also apply to the health sector.

UEG'S POLICY WORK
In promoting digestive health, we work towards the prevention of digestive diseases, as well as the advancement and equal access to treatments to help improve patient outcomes. We focus on reducing the socio-economic burden of digestive diseases and increasing the funding for digestive health research. As the united voice of European gastroenterology, UEG engages with various European stakeholders, from EU institutions and EU agencies (e.g., European Medicines Agency and the Joint Research Centre), to the European offices of WHO and the broad European health community of likeminded medical and patient organisations.
When it comes to EU health policy, we are involved in policy development processes at the EU level in the broad areas of nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and alcohol control. Within each of these areas, we follow specific files, such as the revision of EU Recommendations on Cancer Screening and the revision of EU rules on food information to consumers, which will include mandatory frontof-pack nutrition labelling and labelling of alcoholic beverages.

HOW GI RESEARCHERS AND CLINICIANS CONTRIBUTE
Advocacy is at the heart of our work in public affairs. We can all agree that digestive health deserves far greater political attention and that we need more funding allocated to digestive health research. It is therefore the role of the Public Affairs Group (PAG) within UEG to make the voice of European digestive health pro- has been acquired in one's scientific field, but also deriving from the country of origin and finally also from the reference scientific society.
This diversity represents a certain wealth, which today is a significant strength for UEG.

HOW YOUNG GI PROFESSIONALS CONTRIBUTE
The voice of young professionals has always been the key impetus for a range of PAG activities. The Young Talent Group (YTG) is an initiative by UEG designed to support the growth and advancement of junior gastroenterologists, GI surgeons and basic scientists across Europe. The YTG consists of eight highly proficient young delegates, who serve as cross-representatives on different UEG committees, taskforces and the Council of UEG. 7 We closely collaborate with a network of young gastroenterological sections throughout Europe 8 to inform and educate fellow An ongoing PAG initiative that is particularly spearheaded by young professionals is the support of UEG National Societies in their local advocacy efforts. The recently updated UEG's White Book 10 has highlighted some novel insights into high-burden gastrointestinal diseases that require greater public attention. Based on these findings and in alignment with local health policy goals, UEG aims to endorse National Societies in building a multistakeholder platform to raise awareness of unmet health care needs. Young doctors from various UEG committees have joined forces to support National Societies to propel this initiative forward.
In summary, young GI professionals are a vital engine of the UEG community, bringing their expertise, insights, and passion in promoting equity and justice in healthcare provision. With a desire for change and a focus on improvement, we are coming together to challenge the status quo in the healthcare practices. Through collaborative efforts, we work towards creating a better and healthier future for all.

KEYWORDS
advocacy, European Union, junior doctors, policy-making, public health